It's Enough Just To Shine
by Guardian of Hope
Summary: Tip for a parent trying to be the north star to a child desperate for sun: Sometimes it's enough just to shine. Susan Noyes Anderson Growing up is never easy. Being at the age when your parents saved the world is even worse. assorted ships, lots of OCs, multi-season, multi-chapter
1. The Bradley Pack

Disclaimer: Ownership of Power Rangers is between Disney and Saban. I work for/own neither.

A/N: This is the first chapter of a series. Each chapter is a one shot. It's about the Rangers' children and things that they deal with being Ranger kids. This chapter is the Bradley Pack, the children of Blake and Tori. I am planning two more chapters this weekend featuring the Kwan-Scott children and the Rocca children. If you want to know about any of the other Rangers, feel free to ask. I'm somewhat considering also adding a story like this that tells how each couple got together.

Yes this mean that there are OCs. A lot of OCs. The Bradley Pack is four in number and from oldest to youngest: Will, Mark, Lily, and Terry.

* * *

Lily let herself into the house with a final wave to her friend Shannon and sighed. She leaned against the door and listened, reveling in the feeling of a quiet house. Then she kicked off her shoes and nudged them into their place in the shoe corral then dumped her backpack on the living room couch as she headed for the kitchen.

There was a note on the counter and Lily read it as she grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

_Lily, _

_I had to take Terry to the ear doctor after school. Mike's at the track and Will is running a bit late, so don't be surprised if we all show up around six or so. If you want to cook, feel free, Mom went shopping today._

_Love_

_Dad_

Lily checked the fridge and the cabinets, then looked up at the clock. It was four thirty, the family would want to eat by six thirty if everyone was coming in at six. She had plenty of time to try a new recipe for Mexican lasagna before doing her homework.

She collected a hair tie from the small jar on the kitchen sink to pull her long, black hair out of the way, scrubbed up and set to work.

Although both of her brothers would have laughed themselves sick at the idea, Lily had always found that cooking was a soothing for her as meditation. There was something about the precise measurements and stirring tricks that let all of her daily worries fall way in favor of presenting the world with something delicious.

Once the Mexican lasagna was ready, Lily slid it into the fridge to await six o'clock, when she would bake it and then turned to her homework, namely a research project that would require extra computer time. Rather than argue and deal with her brother Mike's inability to understand the different levels of importance in schoolwork and motocross, Lily could go on now and get the information.

Not to mention it mean that she could look up some of _her_ favorite sites. For all that, Mike was quick to jump on his motocross sites; he was even quicker to run to Dad about her looking up cooking techniques when she'd gotten extra time for schoolwork.

Maybe this year her parents would be able to understand the need for another internet connection. She and Terry could share one, no problem. Terry only used the internet either to keep track of people playing the games he loved, or to get latest news on his favorite comics. Mike was the one who could spend half his life on the computer staring at bikes. Perhaps if she'd gotten Will on board last year, before he'd left town for college, it would have been possible.

Lily sighed and turned her attention to the screen, she had a project to finish, not moon over the unfairness of being one of four children raised on a history teacher's salary and a niche specialty store.

Just as she was printing out the last of the information she would need, the phone rang. "Bradley residence," she said.

"Hey Gumdrop."

Lily grinned, "Uncle Shane! How are you?"

"I'm good, are your parents home yet?" Shane asked.

Lily glanced at the clock, "Dad should be here soon, his note said six."

"Terry had to go to the doctor again?" Shane asked.

"Yeah," Lily replied.

"I wanted to talk to you Lily," Shane said, his tone suddenly serious.

"Okay?" Lily said slowly.

"Your mother came up during her lunch break to get enrollment forms," Shane said. "Lily, Gumdrop, honey, I thought you were going to tell them."

"I will," Lily said, "I just… haven't."

"When are you going to tell them? You know that there's going to be money involved in enrolling at the Academy." Shane said sternly. "They aren't going to be mad and if they're disappointed that you won't go to the Academy, they'll be prouder that you stood up for what you really want."

"Maybe you…" Lily said quietly.

"I'm not going to tell your parents about this any more than I told them about you wrecking your bike, or the fender bender, or the incident with the paint. Your job is to tell you parents things that are important and Lily, you know you'd be miserable up here."

"Okay," Lily sighed. "I'll tell them."

"Tell them what?"

Lily yelped, "Will!" She stared at her blond haired brother, "I didn't hear you come in."

"That's because I'm a ninja," Will replied loftily. "Who's on the phone, Lollypop?"

Lily wrinkled her nose at the nickname, "Hey Uncle Shane," she said, "I'm okay."

"What happened?" Shane asked.

"Will snuck up on me," Lily replied, "something about his 'mad ninja skillz'."

Shane laughed, "Well, tell your parents that I called, okay? I've got to get this casserole in the oven before Kayla skins me alive for forgetting to make dinner again."

"I hear that," Lily said, "I've got something to go in the oven too. I love you Uncle Shane."

"Love you to, Gumdrop," Shane replied cheerfully.

Lily hung the phone up and headed into the kitchen, where Will was poking through the fridge. Lily turned the oven on and turned, "Could I possibly prevail on you to be a gentleman and hand me the glass casserole dish with the foil on it, please?"

"What's going on with you and Shane?" Will asked as he pulled the dish out.

Lily took the dish, "I need to tell Mom and Dad something. Uncle Shane's giving me moral support."

"What do you need to tell them?" Will asked.

"It's nothing," Lily replied.

"Must be pretty big if you went running to Shane," Will replied. "You can tell me."

"I don't want to," Lily replied.

"Aw, come on Lollypop. I won't run telling stories." Will said.

"I don't want to tell you," Lily said again. "I'm not going to tell you."

"Don't be like that," Will said, "you know you can tell me anything."

"I could," Lily replied thoughtfully as she pushed the casserole in the oven, "if I wanted my personal business spread across half the city by noon tomorrow."

"Lily," Will said.

"Oh, Will, you're home," Tori said as she came in from the garage, Mike on her heels.

"Hi Mom," Will said, "I just got in."

"Meaning you have dumped your bags in the front entry so you could scare your sister," Tori said with an indulgent smile.

"Speaking of, Uncle Shane called," Lily interjected. "He said to let you know. Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Thanks honey," Tori said.

Lily slid out of the kitchen as Tori hugged Will and Mike crowded in like an over eager puppy. With a soft sigh, she grabbed her bag from the dining room and headed upstairs. As she dumped her stuff on her bed, she saw her dad's blue Rogue pull into the driveway.

Laughter echoed up from the living room, but Lily shook her head. They'd send Terry up in a few minutes to see what she was up to, but for a few moments longer, Lily could steel herself for the loud, happy family that loved her but still hadn't figured her out.

There was a knock on her open door, Lily looked up and smiled at her little brother. Of all of them, Terry looked the most like their dad. "Hey," he said.

"Hey," Lily said with a little wave.

Terry began to sign, then stopped and sighed, "Mom wanted to know if you wanted garlic bread?"

"No," Lily said strongly. "I've got this, thanks."

"No problem," Terry replied, stepping back.

"Hey," Lily said as she headed down the hall, "I won't tell if you want to sign sometimes. There's nothing wrong with it."

"But I don't have to," Terry muttered.

Lily paused and eyed her little brother, "No, you don't have to. If you want to, it's ok to want things."

Whatever Terry would have said was cut off by their dad, "Lily! DO you need Tori to make garlic bread?"

"NO!" Lily shouted back as she reached the stairs. "No, it's not garlic appropriate." She jumped from the landing, "I was going to toss a salad when I had elbow room in the kitchen."

"Toss away," Blake replied, "and don't let your mother catch you doing that."

"She taught me," Lily replied as she slid around him, pausing to kiss his cheek. "Love you Dad."

As dinner wore on, Lily found herself unusually grateful that Will was very good at attracting attention; she was not looking forward to explaining to her parents what was going on. As she dished up a second helping, Will looked at her and Lily realized he was going to push the issue.

"So, Lily's keeping a secret," Will announced. "Uncle Shane thinks she should tell you guys."

"Will," Lily said.

"Is something wrong?" Tori asked.

"Not really," Lily said, staring down at her plate.

"Lily, you know you can tell us anything," Blake added.

"I know," Lily said. She bit her lip, and then glanced up at her mom, "Uncle Shane said you went to the Academy today."

"Yeah, I did," Tori said, "I was thinking you might want to start classes this summer. You're practically a student with all the time you spend up there."

"I," Lily stopped and swallowed.

"Do you not want to?" Blake asked.

Lily looked down again and clenched her fist in her lap. She looked up, "I don't want to go to the Academy at all. I don't want to be a ninja."

There had been more reaction to the news that Hunter and Dustin had adopted three children in less than a year and "forgotten" to tell anyone until it was almost Christmas.

"Seriously?" Will yelled, "You can't, ugh." He stood up, knocking his chair over. "Why did we get you anyways?"

"William Hunter Bradley!" Tori and Blake snapped in unison, both also standing up.

"Pick up your chair," Tori said coldly.

"And sit. Back. Down." Blake said in that cold, short voice that he saved for the worst of his students. Lily always thought she could hear a roll of thunder in Blake's words.

Will picked up his chair and sat down, looking stunned.

"Lillian, honey," Tori said, "are you sure?"

Lily nodded, "I've been thinking about it for a while. I love the Academy, and it's always been fun to spend time with Uncle Shane, but that's not what I want."

"What do you want?" Blake asked.

Lily thought of the pamphlet in her bag. "I want to go to culinary school when I graduate and become a pastry chef."

"You're an awesome cook," Terry blurted out.

"You are good," Tori said slowly.

"There's this program," Lily said, then stopped.

"What about it?" Blake asked.

"It's a summer program at the university for high school students who want to be chefs." Lily replied.

"The one that that Michigan chef is running?" Blake asked her.

"Michelin and yes." Lily replied, thinking he'd probably heard about it at the high school.

Tori took a deep breath, "I need to learn more about the program," she said, "but I think it could be do able." Lily smiled, relieved. "However, Lily, Terry, and Mike, why don't you excuse us. Your father and I need to have a word with Will."

"Yes ma'am," Lily said, she turned to her brothers, "come help me with desert."

"All right," Terry said. Mike was already heading for the kitchen.


	2. The K-Scotts

A/N1: The Kwan-Scott family. At this point in time, Jason Lee Scott is in his second year of his first term as President (about 2018), with his wife Trini and their children.

Gina Amber, Age 14  
Dwayne Lee and Daniel Peter (Twins) Age 12  
Kelly Mai, Age 11  
James Thomas, Age 8

* * *

Danny grinned as he followed Dwayne around the edge of the lake, "And just think," he said, "We'll finally get to see the statue."

"As long as we don't get caught," Dwayne said. "I don't see what all the fuss is about, it's just a stupid statue."

"It's a statue of the first five Rangers, the oldest Ranger statue in Angel Grove," Danny said. He pointed, "It should be that way, let's go."

"Not so fast."

"Aw man," Danny muttered as he turned, and tried to give the man a charming grin, "Hi, Agent Prince."

Secret Service Agent Aidan Prince was the newest member of the twins' protection detail, and the one they had yet to be able to avoid. He seemed to have an instinct for when they were planning to sneak off or do something they shouldn't, because he always appeared right before they did anything.

"Mister Daniel, Mister Dwayne." Agent Prince regarded them for a long moment, "I believe your parents are expecting your presence in about ten minutes. Your guests will be here then."

"We have ten whole minutes," Danny said, "We could go see the statue and be back in plenty of time."

"Perhaps we could have," Agent Prince said, "but you have again attempted to hide from your protectors. Therefore, you will return to your parents now. Do so without argument and I won't tell your father where you were going."

Danny blanched, "That's not fair!"

"Perhaps not," Agent Prince said, "but you have been told repeatedly not to run off without myself or one of the other agents. Are you going to continue to argue? I'm sure Agent Blanche would agree to ensuring you were confined to the picnic area for the rest of the afternoon."

Danny scuffed his foot, "It's not _fair._"

"You'd be amazed how many things in life aren't," Agent Prince. "Now, let's get back to the picnic area. If you promise to stay out of trouble for the rest of today, I will see about taking you to see the statue tomorrow."

Danny crossed his arms and stared at the Agent, trying to look past his sunglasses to meet his blue eyes. Finally, he sighs and slumps down, "All right," he mutters.

"We'll be good," Dwayne says.

"Let's get back then," Agent Prince said, resting his hands briefly on their shoulders.

"Is Mister Stewart coming today?" Danny asked as they walked back around the lake.

"I believe he is," Agent Prince replied.

"Is he bringing those _girls?"_ Danny persisted.

"I believe so," Agent Prince said. "All four of them."

"Why?" Danny whined, "I don't want to play with girls."

"Maybe we don't want to play with you either, stupid head!"

A ten-year-old girl exploded out of the trees, black hair flying around her face as she threw something at the three of them. Another black haired girl and a blond who also lobbed small white balls at them followed her. Danny was hit in the chest and a green powder cloud surrounded him. Danny yelled and started forward, only to have Agent Prince hold him back as the girls ran back into the bushes.

"Hold on there, Mister Daniel," he said.

"But they threw…" Danny began.

"I know," Agent Prince replied. He touched his earbud, "Agent Blanche, I have spotted the older three Hale girls, armed with a version of confetti eggs."

Danny squirmed, but Agent Prince had a good grip on his shoulder, "They're getting away!" He whined as he tried to get the green off his shirt, "And it's the wrong color."

"Yes ma'am," Agent Prince said. "Mister Daniel, Mister Dwayne, Ms. Gina will be here shortly with ammunition for your revenge. I will be here at the lake edge to hold this boundary. There are other agents around the edge of the arena. Please do not attempt to escape or evade them. Remember your promise."

"Pinky promise?" Danny asked, holding out his hand.

Agent Prince hooked his pinky with Danny's, "I pinky promise."

A panting Gina appeared carrying three bags. "I brought the eggs," she announced. "Uncle Zack made them for everybody."

"What colors do we have?" Danny asked.

"You get blue," Gina said as she handed over a bag, "Dwayne gets green. Momma said not to worry about getting sick eating the powder, its food. Doesn't taste good, but it won't make you sick."

"Thanks," Dwayne said as he adjusted his bag. "Are we doing teams?"

Gina grinned as she pulled two eggs out of her bag, "Nope!" she said, smashing them in her brothers' hair before running for the trees.

"No fair!" Danny shouted, running after her as he tried to pull an egg out of his bag. "Gina, no fair!" With Dwayne close behind, the two disappeared into the trees where shrieks of surprise filled the air.

Aidan sighed and glanced around the lake edge, at least it was moderately peaceful.

"Still no regrets?"

Aidan jumped and spun, reaching for his gun, then relaxed as Justin Stewart strolled up to him. "No," Aidan said, as the question registered, "no regrets. I like my job, Justin."

"That's good," Justin said.

"Have you forgiven me then?" Aidan asked.

Justin shrugged, "I was never the one you owed an apology to. I never really objected to Peter dying, you know. I would have done it years ago except for Derek. The part that was always hard to swallow was that you went for the cubs."

Aidan nodded, "I was just…"

"Following orders," Justin said. "You've heard my rant about Alpha packs though."

"How are mini-me and his clone doing, anyways?" Aidan asked, "I haven't exactly been on a computer lately."

"Aidan and Ethan? They're doing good. We actually managed a family dinner without sarcasm and bloodshed the other day. They're almost done with college, criminal justice to be exact. I think one of the Alphabet Agencies is going to try to recruit them for their grades."

"If they want a recommendation," Aidan offered.

"I'll let them know," Justin said. "Now, I've heard there was a statue around here worth seeing."

"About thirty yards back from the boulder over there," Aidan pointed, "there's a fountain, so you'll hear the water."

"Excellent," Justin said deviously. "Let's go see if I can get them trending on Facebook before Jason realizes what I've done."

"You are the only man in America who would taunt the President of the United States," Aidan said.

"Nah," Justin said, "I'm not the only one. I'm just the one who puts it on the internet." He started walking away, "If you ever need help Aidan, we're only a phone call away. You know that right?"

"Even Derek?" Aidan asked.

"Especially Derek," Justin said. "Peter notwithstanding, what you did for us is a debt we can never repay."

Aidan shook his head and turned his attention back to the woods, listening for the heartbeats of his twin charges. He never really understood the Hale-McCall system of debts, favors, and assistance, even if they had helped him get his job.

* * *

A/N2: I do apologize for the Aidan and Justin scene, but it was important to me. Aidan Prince appears in 'The Only Thing That Stays The Same' (Although he's not been named yet) as part of the Alpha Pack. The three girls who appear are Justin's adopted nieces. The black haired girls are Petra's daughters from Reconstruction, Faith and Melody. I decline to identify the blond at this time as she has not yet made an appearance in her story line. All three are age 13.


	3. The Roccas

I'm a Vipander-shipper. In my head, the kids all use the Rocca name. This story only covered the older siblings, mostly because I've written Lance in Outsiders, and I have a ton of headcanons about the younger ones, but Monica's always been the most distant for me.

Vida, Chip, and Xander's children are:

Lance (16)  
Monica (14)  
Wildfire and Firefly (9)  
Sam (3)  
Emily(1)

Not sure there's a trigger in here, but the short version is a boy is claiming he had sex with Monica and the people she thought were her friends were quick to jump on the slut-shaming bandwagon.

* * *

Monica hugged her textbook to her chest as she ducked through the crowd. She heard giggles behind her, but she pretended she didn't. It was so stupid. She'd watched a movie with an older boy at his house and suddenly she was a pariah. Nothing had even happened, the movie had been horrible, and Monica wished, almost desperately, that she could have gotten her first kiss at least. That would have made all of this a little easier to bear.

"A birthmark, shaped like a butterfly," someone murmured and Monica bit her lip to keep from snapping back. It would die down soon.

"No she doesn't."

Monica hesitated for a moment, wanting to look at the group.

"What?" The first voice said.

"Monica doesn't have a birthmark shaped like a butterfly." Monica peeked at the group as she hurried past. Lance stood tall, with his arms crossed. "I think I would know better than you, she's my sister. Furthermore, maybe you should check your sources as to what you think happened."

She flushed, humiliated. She'd forgotten Lance would be back at school today. He'd been helping his teacher with the aftermath of a troll raid for the past week.

"Excuse me," Lance said. "Monica, hey Monica!"

Monica hesitated, and then turned to look at her brother, "Hey Lance."

"Hey," Lance said, "why didn't you tell me?"

Monica didn't even want to pretend she didn't understand. "They'll stop talking about it. Something will happen and they'll forget."

"Not something like this," Lance said, "it's never going to die unless you stand up for yourself."

"What would you know about it," Monica said, "it's not like you care what people think?"

"I care," Lance said, "and I know because there's a reason people don't spread rumors about me. I took care of their first attempt at spreading rumors."

"What can I do?" Monica asked.

"Do you trust me?" Lance asked.

"You're my brother," Monica said, "of course I do."

Lance leaned over and kissed her cheek as the tardy bell rang. "Go to cheerleading practice this afternoon. I'll meet you there, okay?"

Monica swallowed, "Ok, Lance."

Somehow, knowing her brother was at school and defending her made the rest of the afternoon fly by for Monica. All too soon, she was meeting Lance just outside the gym. "Now," Lance said, "go put your cheerleading uniform on, okay?"

"Why?" Monica asked.

"Because that birthmark they keep talking about, its purported location is visible in your uniform. That's step one." Lance said.

"What's step two?" Monica asked nervously.

"Step two is puppy eyes," Lance said, "but you'll understand when you get out there."

"Okay," Monica said. She headed into the locker room and changed into her uniform nervously. She tied her tennis shoes and headed into the gym where Lance was facing off against Penny, the varsity cheerleading captain in front of both the varsity and JV squads.

"I am so disappointed Penny," he was saying as Monica walked over. "When Monica made the squad, you promised me that you would look after her. You _promised_ me. You and I both know how these rumors are, and you've let them fester all week."

"But," Penny said, looking nervous.

"Did you think it was some other Monica? Did you just not hear the rumors? Did you even _think_ about his one claim about _my_ little sister?" Lance said. He turned to Monica, "Mon, do you mind showing them the inside of your left thigh?"

Monica hesitated, and then nodded slightly. She took a stance, one of the fight stances her dad had taught her, and then she spun, kicking the air over her brother's shoulder. He caught her ankle pointedly. "Does anyone here see a butterfly shaped birthmark?" Lance said.

"N-no," Penny said along with some of the others, while still more simply shook their head.

Lance freed Monica's ankle, "Monica, what time did you get home on Saturday?"

"Eight forty-five," Monica said, "I stopped for mint chocolate chip ice cream on the way home and almost broke curfew. Mom said ice cream wasn't worth her peace of mind."

Lance smiled, "You kept the receipt, didn't you?"

"Of course, I used my card," Monica said, confused.

"Bran's story is that Monica _spent the night,"_ Lance said, "and that his parents were out of town. Monica and I can produce evidence that Monica bought ice cream at a store down the road from our place. She doesn't have the birthmark. Who do you think is telling the truth?"

"But Monica hasn't said anything!" Carrie from JV protested.

Monica snorted, "You told me not to talk to you because I was a whore before I even knew what Bran was saying about me. You also said that it was just proof of how perverted my family was. For someone who just last week called me your best friend, you were pretty damn quick to show your true colors, Carrie." She touched her uniform shirt for a moment, then glanced at Lance, "Point in fact, this week has made me seriously reconsider whether or not I want to be a cheerleader _at all._ None of you asked me for my side of the story. None of you thought about whether letting something like that, _true or not,_ go around school was okay. You _all_ jumped to persecute me, or ignore you. I never heard _anything_ about _any of you_ defending me. I was told when I made the team that the team would be my friends. Not one of you was a friend to me. Maybe I shouldn't have believed the hype, but as you all so conveniently forget when it suits you, my parents were teammates, they were _Power Rangers._ When I think team, I think _family._ You know what, I quit. Maybe then I can find some real friends." Monica turned to Lance, "I'm going to go change back into my clothes, give me a ride home?"

"Sure," Lance said.

"Monica," Penny said. "Wait."

Monica stared at her, "What?"

"I'm sorry," Penny said.

"Prove it," Monica said.

"How?" Penny asked.

"By being a decent human being and defend me? Stop those boys from talking about other girls like they did me? Figure it out." Monica pivoted and strode away from the group.

"Oh, and Penny," Lance said as Monica reached the locker room, she paused, "I rescind my invitation to take you to Homecoming this year and I won't be picking you up on Friday. I can't be with someone I can't trust to care about my family."

Monica smiled to herself as she changed. Too bad Coach had been out with the flu, she would have put a stop to things a week ago. If she'd come back seen how the teams had treated Monica, they would have been off the squad for sure. Maybe she could let Coach talk her into coming back, she really did like cheerleading. Then she paused in the act of refolding her uniform and shook her head, her mother had taught her to have more respect for herself than that.


End file.
